Bawitius
Bawitius is an extinct genus of giant bichir from the Upper Cretaceous. The type species is B. bartheli.
Description
Compared to modern bichirs, Bawitius was an enormous, monster-sized polypterid. The scales were different, apart from size, from those of modern bichirs: they feature a discontinuous ganoine layer, a rectilinear shape, and small articular processes.
Related pages
- Polypteridae, the family where it belongs to
- List of prehistoric bony fish
References
- Grandstaff, B. S; Smith, J. B.; Lamanna, M. C.; Lacovara, K. J.; Abdel-Ghani, M. S. (2012). "Bawitius, gen. nov., a giant polypterid (Osteichthyes, Actinopterygii) from the Upper Cretaceous Bahariya Formation of Egypt". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 32 (1): 17–26.
- Schaal, S. (1984). Oberkretazische Osteichthyes (Knochenfische) aus dem Bereich von Bahariya und Kharge, Ägypten, und ihre Aussagen zur Palökologie und Stratigraphie. Berliner Geowissenschaftliche Abhandlungen Reihe A, 53: 1–76.